By Orin
DavidsonMarch 21st, 2008
Chris Gayle has been all smiles in all his public appearances since
arriving in Guyana for his first home series as West Indies captain.

Chris
Gayle

But in the back
of his mind he will have some major concerns that would consume his
thoughts more than normal even for someone as laid back as the Jamaican.

After 70 Test matches, Gayle’s batting records
still are not where he should be as a big name player from West Indies
that has produced some of the world’s best ever, more so when
they ruled the world for 15 years in the 1970’s and 80s.

He needs to buffer his statistics given that he has
been in the international game for eight years. As it is he nowhere
near the production levels of Brian Lara, Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd,
Everton Weeks or George Headley.

Even in the present scheme of things Gayle, with 4658
Test and 6244 ODI runs is behind Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh
Sarwan in productivity ratio levels in the current team.

However, he likes batting in the West Indies and this
two-match series against Sri Lanka starting this weekend in Guyana
should be the platform he needs to start turning over his stats faster.

Lloyd became a better batsman during his tenure as
captain and given the similarities he has with Gayle – power
hitting left hander and leadership qualities, fans would expect him
to follow suit by now.

So far Gayle has been successful at the helm since
winning the captaincy by default last year in England. There he led
West Indies to a surprise limited overs series win over England and
went over to Zimbabwe where it was a much easier triumph.

Over in South Africa, West Indies walked off with
the first Twenty20 encounter and in his first Test as skipper Gayle
led West Indies to an upset win over South Africa at Port Elizabeth.

The rest of his tour there is now history.

His injuries prevented the Jamaican from contributing
fully in the second Test which South Africa rebounded to win and in
his total absence the home team wrapped up the rubber with a comprehensive
win in the deciding game at Durban.
Without his inspiring leadership and cracking batting at the top of
the order, the preceding limited overs contest turned out to be walkover
for South Africa.

In between Gayle confirmed his strategic prowess by
carrying Jamaica to thrilling one run victory over defending champions
Guyana in the semi-finals of the multi-million dollar Stanford Twenty20
Cup. They ended as runners up but one of the highlights of the series
would’ve been his brilliant tactical move in introducing Jerome
Taylor at a crucial period who won the game for Jamaica with a crucial
wicket, when Guyana seemed headed for victory in the closing stages.

You don’t have to be an Ian Chappell type analyst
to conclude that Gayle would be under pressure to pull similar type
moves from the bag to stop Sri Lanka.

It is now better know around the West Indies cricket
fraternity that Sri Lanka has never won a Test match there.

Gayle’s responsibility will be to maintain West
Indies’ unbeaten run against Sri Lanka and by extension win
a Test series against a higher ranked team for the first time in years.

And given his encouraging start in South Africa, he
will be tasked with that responsibility to continue in the same vein
in his first full series as captain.

Playing at home will be also bring the added pressure
on the Jamaican to justify his elevation at the expense of Ramnaresh
Sarwan’s demotion as captain.

Insularity, embedded in the psyche of West Indian
fans is not about to be erased any time soon and Guyanese fans of
Sarwan are still feeling hard done by the fact he was never given
a chance to prove his worth as leader.

Gayle has moved past the Guyanese for a permanent
place in the pecking order based on his current appointment in light
of Sarwan’s availability.

And the lefty would be allowed no more than one lapse
for calls for Sarwan’s re-instatement to start ringing in his
ears.
He has a near strongest possible West Indies team lineup for the series
although fast bowler Pedro Collins’s decision to place his priority
in English county cricket ahead of West Indies team as a Koplak player,
will rob them of an added edge.

Also one cannot fathom the selector’s decision
to deem Sulieman Benn a better choice than Dave Mohamed in the spin
department, in the squad.

Off spinner Amrit Jaggernauth’s selection was
expected and he deserves a first eleven pick, not only to add variety
to the bowling attack but more so as he is one of the West Indies’
best bowlers presently.

Since his ascension to the helm Gayle has been talking
a lot about the shortcomings of administrators and umpires which shows
he is not prepared to be anyone’s “Uncle Tom’.

But he would be expected to air his feelings in like
manner on an issue which should must be the other major weight resting
heavily on his mind.
Since being bought for an earth shaking US$800,000, by West Indian
standards by Kolkata for the India Premier League (IPL), it has led
to a measure of confusion in the West Indies camp.

First the West Indies Cricket Board’s CEO Donald
Peters made an astoundingly spineless declaration that the Board was
making itself powerless to have Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul –
the others involved, play the entire Test series against Australia
which clashes with the IPL.

It required the International Cricket Council (ICC)
to instill in Peters and company a sense of authority by letting them
know that their players’ is allegiance is with the WI team first
and foremost ahead of any other IPL commitment.

Since that ICC meeting in Dubai, Peters and others
have backtracked and announced what he should’ve done in the
first place - that the players would be selected for the entire Australia
series.

However, Gayle surprising countered the latest WICB
announcements, by stating he has not yet made a decision on his availability
for the three-match rubber.

You would’ve expected the new West Indies captain
to have kept quiet even if he was disappointed at not being able to
draw down on the entire US $800,000 Kolkata salary by having to miss
the last two weeks of the IPL and accept his responsibility to West
Indies cricket.

But by not accepting that the matter was closed following
the ICC’s and WICB’s pronouncements, Gayle is opening
himself to criticism for what he and his team members have been accused
of for a long time now – that its all about the money and little
national pride where they are concerned. Orin
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